Telephone coin collector



'FebQZIS, 1943.]

'2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR E/LHOYT ATTORN-T I Feb. 23, 1943. HQYT2,311,751

'TELEPHONE COIN COLLECTOR Filed May 17, 1939 2 she ets-sheetz ATTORNEKPatented Feb. 23, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TELEPHONE COINCOLLECTOR Frederick A. Hoyt, East Orange, N. .l'., assignor to BellTelephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation ofNew York Application May 17, 1939, Serial No. 274,129

4 Claims. (Cl. 194-1) This invention relates to telephone coincollectors and has for an object the provision of a collector in whichcertain deposited coins will be held in suspense for subsequentcollection or refund while other coins will be collected immediatelyupon deposit.

Telephone coin collectors as now used commercially are, in general, oftwo main types. In the prepay type the deposit, of a coin is requiredbefore the operator can be signaled or before a number can be dialed;and in this case the deposited money is collected or refunded dependingupon whether or not the desired connection is established. In thepostpay type no money depositis required until the desired connection.is available or is established, whereupon the deposit of a coin isrequired, which coin is immediately collected without any provision forcoin refund.

The collector of this invention is adapted to be used as a collector ofthe prepay type for calcalls and as a collector of the postpay type fortoll or long distance calls. For this purpose the coin hopper forreceiving deposited coins is provided with two channels, one leadingdirectly to the cash box and the other leading to a coin trap where acoin may be temporarily held in suspension for subsequent collection orrefund depending upon conditions occurring after coin deposit. Mountednear the entrances to the two coin channels, above described, is apivoted vane normally occupying a position directing a first depositedcoin into the channel containin the coin trap, but responsive to thedeposit of the first coin for directing a subsequently deposited coin orcoins into the other channel which leads directly to the cash box. Onemanner in which the first coin deposited may be utilized to advance thevane to its abnormal position is to introduce a pivoted coin triggerinto the initial channel below the vane, with the vane and the cointrigger having arms engaging in such a manner that the actuation of thecoin trigger serves to actuate the coin vane whereby the biasing springordinarily employed to hold the coin trigger in actuated position willalso serve to hold the coin vane in its actuated position until both ofthese elements have been released by the energization of theassociatedcoin relay.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a general view of a telephone coin collector adapted tocontain a coin hopper in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a circuit diagram of the electrical connections of theapparatus associated with such a collector; I

Fig. 3 isa view in perspective of the coin hopper of this invention;

Fig. 4 is a side view partly in section of the coin hopper of Fig. 3associated with a coin relay;

Fig. 5 is a view of the upper portion of the coin hopper of Fig. 4 withcertain parts in their coin actuated positions; and

Fig. .6 illustrates the manner in which certain electrical springcontacts are controlled by the apparatus of Fig. 4.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a telephone coin collector of the general typedisclosed in the O. F. Forsberg U. S. Patent 1,043,219, issued November5, 1912, to which reference may be had for a detailed description of itsmanner of operation. The collector of the present invention may beassumed to be the same as that disclosed by Forsberg except for thesubstitution of a new type of coin hopper for the coin hopper disclosedin the patent.

A nickel, dime or quarter deposited in the coin gauge l0 enters theproper channel of the multicoin chute ll located within the upperhousing l2, which chute guides the deposited coin along a path to causethe coin to strike a signaling element such as a gong or bell afterwhich the deposited coin drops into the mouth l3 of the coin hopper l4shown in detail in Figs. 3 to 5, inclusive.

As will be noted from Fig. 4, the coin hopper has an initial coinchannel 15 and a toll coin channel IB with their entrances so arrangedthat a first deposited coin normally falls into channel [5 to actuate acoin trigger IT and comes to rest upon a pivoted coin trap IS. Theactuation of the coin trigger l1 serves in a wellknown manner to closethe spring contacts l9, iii to establish a circuit through the windingsof polarized relay 20 whereby equipment at the central office isprepared to connect the calling subscriber to the line dialed by thepatron; and switches at the central ofiice may subsequently be operatedto supply collect current or refund current to relay 20 depending uponwhether or not the desired connection is obtained. The application ofcollect current causes the relay armature 2! to move its arm 22 in theproper direction to cause vane 23 to release coin trap tratedparticularly in Fig. 6 where contacts |9,'

H! are shown open and the biasing spring 35 is restrained from closingthe contacts by means of arm 36 of lever 23 due to the fact that leverarm 21 is resting on trigger shoulder 28. A deposited coin falling intochannel actuates the that the upper portion of the coin hopper containsa vane 3|] pivoted about pin 3| and normally biased by gravity to lieagainst wall 32 in which position it performs no coin directing functionexcept to permit a deposited coin to drop into channel l5. However, vaneexternal to the coin hopper has a downwardly extending arm 33 lying inthe path of shoulder 28. As shown in Fig. 4 arm 33 normally liesadjacent to but out of contact with shoulder 28. When a coin isdeposited to move coin trigger I! from its position of Fig. 4 to itsposition of Fig. 5 the resulting clockwise movement causes shoulder 28 Yto contact with arm 33 to produce a countercoin trigger I! to itsadvanced position of Fig.

5 where shoulder 28 no longer serves to support arm 21, whereupon arm 21acting under the pressure exerted by biasing spring drops to the left ofshoulder 28 as seen in Fig. 5; and spring 35 and arm 36 in moving to theright as shown in Fig. 6 cause button to close contacts l9, IS. Therelay 20 is of the polarized type as disclosed in the above-mentionedForsberg patent whereby its armature 2| is moved in a directiondependent upon the polarity of the applied voltage; and it will be notedthat armature 2| has an extension 22 engaging a pin 4| on the pivotedcoin vane 23 which normally supports the pivoted coin trap l8. Whencollect or refund current is applied at the central office to energizerelay 26 it is therefore obvious that for a voltage of one polarity(collect current) armature 2| and its extension 22 will be rotated sayin a counter-clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 6, thereby moving vane23 to the right as seen in Fig. 3 to allow coin trap I8 to drop due togravity and discharge its coins into collect chute 24; while for anapplied voltage of the opposite polarity (refund current) armature 2|and its extension 22 will be rotated in a clockwise. direction as seenin Fig. 6, thereby moving vane 23 to the left as seen in Fig. 3rto allowcoin trap l8 to drop due to gravity and discharge its coins into refundchute 25.

As explained in the Forsberg patent, the momentary application ofcollect current or refund fund current to relay 20 also serves torestore coin trigger I! to normal, thereby enabling spring contacts l9,l9 to reopen when the relay is subsequently deenergized. Armature 2|carries an insulating roller 38 which normally lies in a depression inthe confronting faces of arm 36 and contact spring l9. When armature 2|is deflected by the energization of relay 20 this roller 38 rides out ofsaid depression and acting against arm 36 of angular lever 26 elevatesthe horizontal arm 21 above the path of trigger shoulder 28 to allowcounterweight 29 to restore coin trigger H from its operated position ofFig.

5 to its normal position of Fig. 4. When the relay is subsequentlydeenergized to return armature 2| to normal, roller 38 is likewiserestored ,7

to its normal position of Fig. 6, thereby allowing lever arm 21 to dropdown again on top of trigger shoulder 28 so that the trigger shoulder 28again latches lever 26 to maintain the switch actuating button 40 out ofengagement with clockwise movement of vane 33 about its pivot 3|,thereby advancing vane 30 to its position of .Fig. 5 where vane 38blocks the entrance to the initial channel I 5 and serves to direct anysubsequently deposited coin into the by-pass channel l6. Vane 30 is heldin its advanced position as long as arm 21 of the spring-pressed lever26 is in its position of Fig. 5 where it blocks the return of cointrigger I! to its normal position.

However, as soon as collect current or refund current is applied torelay 20, arm 21 as previously described is elevated above shoulder 28,thereby permitting counterweight 29 to restore trigger IT to normal; andtrigger 11 in restoring to normal removes shoulder 28 from its blockingposition for arm 33 thereby permitting vane 30 under the influence ofgravity to move back to its normal position of Fig. 4.

It will be apparent from Figs. 3 and 4 that by-pass channel l6 leadsdirectly to the collect chute opening 34 in the base of the coin hopperbelow coin trap l8 so that any coin deflected by vane 30 into channel I6will not strike coin trigger I! nor will such a coin be held in suspenseon coin trap I8 but will pass directly through opening 34 into the cashbox located in the low- -er portion of the housing of Fig. 1.

One advantage of the coin hopper construction above described is thatthere is no danger that the coin load on the coin trap will besufficiently great to prevent the coin relay from operating coin vane 23to dispose of any coins on the coin trap. For a local call involvingonly one coin it will be apparent that by-pass channel |6 performs nofunction since the single coin for each local call will pass intochannel l5 and will be held suspended on coin trap 8 for subsequentcollection or refund; and the energization of coin relay 20 will restorecoin trigger I! and vane 30 to their normal postions of Fig. 4 ready topermit the coin for the next local call to be directed into the initialcoin chute l5.

However, for a toll call involving the deposit of more than one coin theoperation is as follows: The central ofiice operator upon ascertainingthat a toll call is desired will refund the initial coin resting on trap8 and will then request the deposit of the toll charges, say,twenty-five cents. The refunding of the initial call coin, as previouslydescribed serves to restore trigger l1 and vane 30 to their normalpositions of Fig. 4. If the patron now deposits five nickels in paymentof the toll charges, the first nickel will, therefore, enter chute 5 andbe held in suspense on trap l8 after the coin has actuated trigger H toadvance vane 30 to its position of Fig. 5. The remaining four nickelsdeposited in payment of the toll charges will, therefore, be directedinto 'by-pass channel l6 by means of which they'drop directly into thecash box. The first nickel of the toll payment will be collected at theproper time by applying collect current to relay 29; and relay 2!! inoperating will restore vane 36 to its normal position of Fig. 4 aspreviously described.

It will, therefore, be apparent that the coin hopper of this inventionprovides an arrangement whereby the coin trap load is limited to onecoin and any additional coins deposited for a given call are by-passedaround the coin trap and collected immediately upon deposit.

What is claimed is:

1. In a coin collector provided with a cash compartment, a coin hopperhaving a main coin receiving passage leading to two branch channels, oneof said channels being an initial coin channel and a second of saidchannels leading directly to said cash compartment, a pivoted vane insaid main passage which in one position permits a deposited coin toenter said first channel and in the second position directs a depositedcoin into said second channel, said vane being biased to said firstposition, a coin trigger pivoted externally of said hopper and having anarm projecting into said first channel for actuation by, a depositedcoin, a shoulder on said trigger external to said hopper, said vanehaving an arm lying in the path taken by said shoulder when said triggeris moved by a deposited coin whereby the coin actuation of said triggermoves said vane to its said second position, means for holding saidtrigger in coin actuated position, and relay means for releasing saidtrigger from said holding means.

2. In a coin collector housing provided with a collection box, a coinhopper having a, main coin receiving passage leading to two branchedcoin channels, one of said channels being an initial coin channel and asecond of said channels leading directly to said collection box, saidmain passage being substantially vertically arranged and being definedby stationary side walls, a pivoted member comprising a coin deflectingvane lying within said main passage between said stationary walls, whichvane in a first position permits a deposited coin to enter said firstchannel and in a second position directs a deposited coin into saidsecond channel, said vane being biased to said first position, a cointrigger pivoted externally of said hopper and biased to a normalposition in which said trigger projects into said first channel foractuation to an advanced position by a deposited coin, said memberhaving external to said hopper an arm lying in the path taken by anexternal portion of said trigger when said trigger is moved by adeposited coin to its advanced position whereby said trigger in movingto said advanced position engages said arm to advance said vane to saidsecond position, means down which deposited coins are adapted to passunder the influence of gravity, said passage being defined by stationaryside walls, one of said walls near said mouth having an aperture, aby-pass coin channel leading from said aperture to said box, a cointrigger pivoted externally of said hopper on the side of said hopperremote from said aperture, said trigger having an arm biased to a normalposition in which said trigger projects into said passage below saidaperture for actuation to an advanced position by an initially depositedcoin, a movable member pivoted about an,

axis lying above the axis of said trigger and comprising a vane lyingwithin said passage above said trigger, said vane being biased bygravity to a normal position in which said vane permits an initiallydeposited coin to strike said trigger and adapted to be moved to anadvanced position in which said vane diverts a deposited coin throughsaid aperture into said by-pass channel, an arm on said member adaptedto be engaged by said trigger to move said vane to-said advancedposition when said trigger is actuated by a deposited coin, means forholding said trigger in its coin actuated position and relay means forreleasing said trigger from said holding means.

4. In a coin collector housing, a coin hopper having a main coinreceiving passage leading to two branch coin channels, said main passagebeing substantially vertically arranged and being defined by stationaryside walls, a pivoted member comprising a coin deflecting vane extendingdownwardly from the axis of said member, said vane lying between saidstationary walls and biased by gravity to a, normal position directing afirst deposited coin into one of said channels but adapted to be movedto a second position in which a subsequently deposited coin is deflectedby said vane into said second channel, means actuated by said firstdeposited coin for engaging said member to advance said vane to saidsecond position, means efiective during the deposit in succession ofseveral coins subsequent to said first coin for holding said vane insaid second position to permit all of said successively deposited coinsto be deflected by said vane into said second channel and relay meansfor releasing said vane from said holding means.

FREDERICK A. HOYT.

